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Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) last week inched up 12.78 points (0.48 percent) amid the country heading towards the last hour of March 5 elections.

The secondary market opened at 2,642.15 points on Sunday while it closed at 2,654.93 points on Thursday. During the period, the index reached as high as 2,666.22 points and a low of 2,608.95 points, resulting in a volatility of 57.27 points.

The secondary market opened at a negative note for the weekdays, with a nosedive of its index by 27.59 points on Sunday. On Monday, the index increased marginally by 2.41 points, followed by a notable rise of 21.62 points on the next day. On the last two trading days, the index rose 10.30 points and 6.03 points, respectively.

Sector-wise, four groups were losers, with the trading index sliding down the largest of 100.44 points (2.68 percent), as mutual funds, hydropower and others followed the segment. Of the nine gainers, life insurance climbed 1.87 percent as non-life insurance inclined 1.16 percent.

Regarding the individual companies, Ankhukhola Hydropower Company with turnover of its shares worth Rs 1.73 billion was the topmost in the segment. Salapa Bikas Bank Limited stood as the topmost gainer by adding 61.02 percent in its market value. Supermai Hydropower Limited lost 14.51 percent, the highest of all.

The total turnover amount stood at Rs 24.69 billion last week. The average turnover plunged almost half, to Rs 4.93 billion from Rs 8.15 billion in previous week.

In the review period, the market capitalization increased to Rs 4.466 trillion from Rs 4.444 trillion, making investors gain over Rs 22 billion in their book values. In the previous week, the investors lost Rs 40 billion from share transactions.